Donut Factor: Merlin Entertainments’ Thorpe Park existing donut offer was deemed to be tired and outdated. Due to donut sales being the highest profit margin food offer for Merlin, they were keen to rebrand and redesign the donut kiosk to further improve sales.

Background: The existing donut kiosk structure had to remain due to planning constraints. Every other aspect of the donut offer from a design perspective was able to be reconsidered. Jolly Horn developed several design concepts including a beach hut and mad professor’s lab as well as the ‘Donut Factory’ concept that was chosen by Merlin Entertainments.

Result: A fun, colourful and playful corrugated metal structure with bright tubes was developed to reflect the factory aspect. Two large tubes were introduced for the donuts to roll out of creating theatre. The new brand identity used a strong typeface with a marquee style signage for maximum standout. Menu’s, posters, packaging and uniforms were created for an overall consistent brand look and feel. The project came in under budget and sales have increased. Merlin now plan to roll out the concept to further site.